What's Left Behind
by Brooke Warner
Summary: The secondary trio at their lowest during book 7 and what Neville, Ginny, and Luna realize in the meantime. This is what I'd call the exact point of the "missed opportunity" for Neville and Luna ever becoming a couple... T to be safe. ONESHOT.


This _can_ be read as a companion piece to Naturalists Not So Normal (more Luna) and Neville's No Naturalist (more Neville). Same vein, different points in time, and can pretty much be read in any order; though NNSN was written first, followed by NNN, then this one. If you want to read them chronologically, I'd suggest you wait however long it takes for me to write the fourth (and probably last) companion piece (that should go right after this one) before moving on to the other two.

~o~

Luna Lovegood awoke slowly, eyes darting in and out of focus in the muted light. It had been months since Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley's absence. She recalled the taunts of the Slytherin prefects, each brandishing their own set of horrid charms against her. She still felt the stone she sat on, but her head was elevated somehow from the cold floors of Hogwarts. Luna opened her eyes wide, now adjusted to the dimness of the hallway. It took her a moment to realize who was patting her face.

"Luna!"

Neville stopped slapping her gently when he saw her wake, furiously looking about the empty hallways. "Who did this to you?"

Luna realized her head rested on Neville's lap as he had tried to revive her. Luna sat up quickly. "Students; we should move quickly." Luna stood, pulling Nevile by the hand only to feel a jerk from her insides once vertical.

"Whoa, Luna." Neville caught her under the arms as she fell backwards, "You got quite a blow."

Luna reached behind her head, but Neville grabbed her fingers, "you might not want to do that." He turned her so one of her arms draped over his shoulder. She felt liquid run down her cheek, feeling silly for crying. Neville wiped it away with his tie, trying to hide the dark red stain it left on the cloth.

Her eyes were wide, but blinked too often. "What time is it?"

"Not even five in the afternoon." Neville murmured, wiping another bloody trail from her face. He could see the cuts at her temple, right below her eye, at her cheekbone, matching scrapes on her palms, and the red patch on the back of her blonde head. "Just lean on me until you're safe."

Luna wanted to protest but could barely keep her eyes open. She simply nodded and sighed, "This feels nice."

Neville looked to her worriedly, dragging Luna to a faster speed her sluggish feet could not match. His eyes had to whip around the dark corridors but could not help but glance to Luna's sorry state. Her face was not yet swelling, but he could feel the heat radiating from her battered body.

Hogwarts had become a prison of tyranny and brutal force, governed by death eaters and lead by the murderer of the previous headmaster. Neville could barely hear the soft echo behind him over his rapid heart. The heavy weight at his side was reminder enough that if he did not hear the footsteps before the footsteps found him, he would meet a fate possibly worse than Luna's. They were coming from in front of them. He turned Luna and himself around abruptly,

"Luna, change of plans. We're gonna have to go to the common room. It's not that far, we'll be there soon."

Neville took deep breaths, allowing his heart to calm, resisting the urge to look at Luna's wounds, moving as fast as his body would let him. He could hear them now, a guffawing mess of shoes scuffing ancient floors and boasting about their latest triumph. Neville tried not to hear the two-syllabic noun currently in repetition, closing his mouth, breathing slowly through his nose as he shuffled quickly. Neville tried not to pant,

"Almost there…"

Then he felt his body take her whole weight. Luna was out cold, and the footsteps were gaining. Neville's attempts to slow his heart were no good when he turned to her pale face. He slapped her.

"Luna!" he yelped. He heard his strike echo and the noise behind them stop instantly. Her eyes fluttered open, he could feel blood on his fingers. Neville's shoulders relaxed, but tensed as he heard footsteps louder. The portrait was so close. He could see the fat lady sleeping. Neville still took most of Luna's weight, hurrying as he heard the students racing through the winding halls. He heaved, pulled, and collapsed below the portrait. He banged the portrait loudly.

"Over there!" Neville's eyes swept from lady to Luna to the hall they had emerged from. The lady was alert in an instant.

"Password?"

"Owen's sheep."

Neville thrust Luna through the portrait first. He saw one of the students running into the hallway as the portrait closed the two safely inside. The common room seemed empty as Neville laid Luna on a sofa.

"Luna!" her lucidity had become considerably less in this time, eyes threatening to close at every instant. He produced his wand to stop the swelling near the injuries. When finished, he took her face in his hands,

"Luna," he said firmly, "I think you have a concussion. You need to stay awake while I go fetch Ginny. Can you do that?"

Luna's eyes snapped open furiously, and then dimmed to her usual dreamy self, "Yes." He voice was too monotone, "I believe I can do that." She swayed in her seat, drawing her shoulders back and sitting straighter than any normal person. Neville stared to her for a moment hesitantly, pursed his lips, then ran to the girl's dormitory.

"You can't be in here!" Neville pushed past the girl to the second closest individual.

"Ginny, come to the common room."

She turned, expression surprised and wary, "Neville…"

"Now!"

Neville was back at Luna's side in an instant. He eyes were half-closed; she was reciting the ingredients for various potions.

"wolfbane, eye of newt, wormwood…"

"Luna," he touched her head lightly, trying to catch her eye, "you don't need to do that anymore."

She sighed, staring straight back at him "but I do; I have a test Tuesday."

Neville paused, giving a slight smile at her reply, "I don't think they usually test us on wizard photo-development potions."

"Oh, but you haven't had the substitute." She inched closer, blood trickling down the cut on her right cheek. "I think he may be the nephew of the naturalist Newt Scamander." She smiled, shockingly wide in the shadowy firelight. Neville raised his hand to staunch the blood, forgetting to use his tie, when he heard a gasp.

Neville jumped when he looked beyond Luna to a pale-faced Ginny Weasley. She was wringing her hands and trembling with rage as she stared at the back of her friend's head.

"What happened?" she rushed to them, looking to Neville for answers, "Is she alright?"

Neville frowned, "I don't know."

"Who was it?"

"The usual."

"But—it's not even…"

"I know." Twin creases formed between their eyebrows as they looked to the frowning Luna still fighting to stay awake. Her eyes were wide again, slowly absorbing the conversation.

"Neville believes I have a concussion."

Ginny paused, shaking in anger, teeth clenched. "I think so too." She turned to Neville,

"Why are you here and not Pomfrey?"

"They almost caught us. The Hospital Wing was through them."

Ginny's eyes widened. "How close—"

"Too close."

Ginny pursed her lips, "You stay with Luna and do the best you can," he stood up, "I'll go to the Hospital wing and get Madam Pomfrey."

"It's too dangerous!"

"We need help, Neville. Look at her."

"I'll be fine. I would prefer than you would talk to me rather than pretend I am invisible." Luna swayed as she looked up to Ginny, "Please don't do it." Her voice was thin and reedy by the last word; Neville placed a hand on her arm to steady her. He looked at Luna for a long time.

"I'll do it."

"No you won't." Ginny growled, "You need to stay here and do exactly what you've been doing to keep us from losing Luna. Right Luna?"

Luna was quiet, eyes dulling with the effort of wakefulness that she could not muster. "Ginny's faster than you." She raised a hand pressing her index finger to his chest, "Please don't leave."

Neville stared back at Luna, shifting uncomfortably. He looked around cautiously, "I've got some vanishing powder under my mattress for a rainy day. Use it if you have to."

Ginny nodded, "Got it." She quickly raced up the stairs, down the stairs, and towards the two. Ginny tossed a small drawstring purse to Neville.

"Feed her that. It should help with the swelling." The hallways were still ominously silent as the portrait creaked open and shut at Ginny's departure. Neville's eyes flicked back to Luna. Her form drooped after Ginny's exit.

"Luna," he murmured, she turned her eyes towards him as Neville opened the bag, "Ginny told me to—"

"I was in the room; I heard her just fine." Her head bobbed jarringly at the last syllable. She took the bag from his hands and began to remove pieces of what looked like bread. "Ginny is right." She looked to Neville as she ate, "It won't assist my level of lucidity, but will also not let me sleep." Her smile was quick; Neville knew the potion had begun to take its toll. "Ginny also has things saved for a rainy day." Luna placed the bag, now a sixth empty, back into Neville's fingers.

"Is that enough?"

Luna gave another soft grin, "Yes; the problem with this concoction…" she tilted her head and looked around Neville's face, "is all the wrackspurts it attracts!" she laughed and waved at the air around them. Neville dodged her hand and caught the heel of her palm. She sighed unhappily as her eyes passed over the window.

"How do you think they're doing out there?"

Neville glanced out to the fading light, then back to the sleepy Luna, "Just fine." He paused and smiled, "He's Harry Potter."

Luna chuckled, "And you're Neville Longbottom," she sighed, smile remaining on her pale face, "destiny has something planned for us; you were almost in his shoes." She let her hand trace the material of the couch, "You have just as much potential as him. You're taller too." She tapped him on the head. He laughed, stopping the drumming he felt inside his ear with a hand over hers.

His brown eyes grew languid as Neville placed Luna's hand on her lap.

"How do you feel?"

"...On fire." She replied, "I can feel something…" she frowned as she tried to lift her hand and Neville pushed it down.

"No."

She smiled again, a silence penetrating the room as her smile waned, "You think you know the end to our story?"

Neville thought, "I _hope_," he inched closer, "that good triumphs over evil." Luna laughed, not the tinkling sound one would expect from a girl so fair, but a chortling, robust sound. Neville thought it suited her much better, smiling that his honest answer had provided Luna with a new burst of energy.

"You're quite the poet." She whispered.

"You're quite the dramatist." He whispered back. Neville moved himself to sit next to Luna, supporting some of her weight. She sighed and leaned her head on his shoulder before Neville forced her head up again. Her smile was sad as she looked up at him.

"This will all end some day."

Neville's smile spread quietly, "What do you mean?"

"The war will end with us dead or moving on to our new lives." Luna backed away a little, putting one hand on Neville's shoulder and the other waving about the room, "All of this will be gone."

Neville frowned, "What makes you say Ginny and I will leave you?"

"You won't." She replied curtly, "You'll just…move on."

"And you won't move on?" Ne laughed, "You've been talking about proving the existence of new creatures since the day I met you. Luna, you were born to travel."

He carefully pinched at a strand of hair, easing it out of a congealing cut. The light hair was still coloured a reddish brown. Neville did not think before he spoke. "Luna?"

"Yes?"

"I…" he looked to her injured face, the hair his hand was keeping it from getting stuck in the scabbing blood…he cleared his throat, "I…need to tell you something when your feeling better."

Luna looked at him curiously for a moment, "Why thank you, Neville, you're such a good friend." She laughed and waved a hand about his face, "You've distracted the wrackspurts for me! That's quite a task, to distract a wrackspurt…You obviously were listening when I said the only thing to confuse a wrakspurt is to create confusion where there is none."

Neville's mouth stayed a little open as he absorbed Luna's words.

"You must tell me after this what you are thinking of so I can know what could attract them in such numbers away from an injury like mine…and with the potion too," she indicated towards to drawstring pouch she had given him. Luna sighed and placed her hand in his and giving him an ill-placed kiss meant for his cheek on his forehead. "Oops, sorry about that—" Luna's strange eyes stared curiously at Neville's face, "Did you know that your one eye is bigger than the other?"

Neville laughed, "Both of your eyes just look big to me." He leaned forward slightly, paused, then sighed, rocking back as he smelled the potion. Then there was a bang. He jumped.

"Madam Pomfrey!

"Poppy!" exclaimed Luna. Pomfrey frowned at the blonde girl.

"What happened?"

"The usual." She stared in horror at the array of cuts, bruises and scrapes, then pulled herself together.

"Well," she breathed, "time to work, then. What have you two given her?"

"Emoticen to keep her awake."

Luna nodded, "and Neville helped keep the wrakspurts from making me too confused." She added. Madam Pomfrey frowned.

"Well, to get this job finished I'm going to have to purge it from her system. Mr. Longbottom," she nodded to Neville, "If you could hold her steady by the shoulders…no around the other way so you're staring her in the eyes…yes, that's it..."

Madam Pomfrey took out her wand and a vial. "I'm going to need you to hold her steady while I heal this mess up." She sucked in at a closer inspection of the wound, "When the brain is involved like this healing takes more time."

Neville stared at Luna, eyes dreamy and collected. "Thanks for saving me, Neville." She to kiss his cheek but was far too centered to properly execute it on either side, "And you, Ginny," she raised her head to attempt another token of affection but Ginny laughed and averted her friend as Neville and Pomfrey attempted to keep her steady.

"Maybe tomorrow, Luna," Ginny laughed, looking from the less-than-lucid Luna to the utterly embarrassed Neville. Her smile died instantly as Madam Pomfrey caught her eye "there's always tomorrow…" the school nurse continued to work at the back of Luna's head, all other scrapes still fresh and crimson. Luna's eyes became droopy again as she relied heavily on Neville's hands at her shoulders.

"I'll see you when I wake up, friends."

"Not quite the time to go to sleep yet, Miss Lovegood," shrilled Pomfrey. Neville frowned at Luna.

"You can't sleep right now, Luna; Madame Pomfrey's not done stitching you back up."

She sighed, "Sometimes it would be nice to sleep through pain._"_

Neville laughed, "At least we survived this one together."

Luna smiled, "Yes...life is never without pain."

"Or friends." Neville grinned, "Where would I have been without you last week with those Slytherins? You're the one who came up with the idea to smoke them out." Ginny snorted.

"I still think Luna's the second coming to Fred and George."

All three laughed.

"Mr. Potter would be proud to see you in these halls doing what you do, Miss Weasley, with your two friends here." Pomfrey added softly. A quiet fell over the group, three avoiding Ginny's pained expression at the mention of The Boy Who Lived.

"I'm sure that they will discover how to defeat the Dark Lord," piped up Luna, "Who else could face death so often and still live?"

Neville snorted, "He's not called The Boy Who Lived for nothing...and what about you, Luna? Haven't you out-lived death?" he pretended to swat at the wrakspurts for Luna. He was quite surprised when his fingers felt like they were actually hitting bugs in the air. Luna smiled at his confused expression.

"Death's a strange thing...a gift if you can overcome it in time's like this..." Luna's eyes seemed more tied to Neville's as she explained; Neville smirked.

"Now who's the poet?" he replied.

"That would be her reaction to the rapid healing spell I'm using," Pomfrey explained. Ginny gave Neville a bemused look that he refused to acknowledge. Ginny could see what Pomfrey had revealed by moving hair away from Luna's wound. A younger Ginny would have left the room to vomit. She grimaced and assisted Pomfrey in holding Luna's hair. Pomfrey sighed,

"Thank you, dear." and she continued to mutter and paste ointment on Luna's injury with her wand.

They all continued in silence for a time, satisfied to have survived this turn of events, awaiting the next blow they would have to recover and adapt to escape the next hurtle. The light from the window was replaced by soft firelight and even softer moonlight, clouds always mingling outside the castle bearing more bad weather. After the reluctant exit of Madam Pomfrey, Neville, Luna, and Ginny sat in the common room for a time. Luna was finally asleep on a couch with the other two watching so she did not sleep on her back to disturb the new magic. Neville looked up from Luna at Ginny. Ginny's face looked haggard in the dim lights, jagged lines stretching from the inner corners of her eyes in cavernous swoops, frown firmly set on her features, jaw noticeably grinding her teeth. Neville coughed and Ginny looked up at her friend. Neville gave a sad smile. She returned it.

"Wrakspurts!" Luna's eyes bulged open and her hand smacked Neville in the face. Ginny and he smiled brightly, albeit Neville's a little more strained with a fresh sting.

"Luna!"

"Luna!"

"How are you feeling?"

"Hmm..." she sat up from her position on the couch, "worried. I'm not sure If I remember the fourth ingredient for the photo-potion..."

Happiness once again returned to the trio left behind at Hogwarts; but, as each knew too well, nothing is made to last.


End file.
